I am sorry for keeping everyone in the dark for these past few weeks, there have been quite a few things happening around here! By far the biggest news is that Allison came and visited for a week. It was amazing to see her and take a little break from the whole long distance relationship routine! She had just spent 2 weeks working in a clinic in Kenya with a group of fellow nurses and her return flight had been scheduled to include a layover in Amsterdam. She was able to negotiate a bit and arrange to take a different flight that would leave from Amsterdam on the morning of the 28th instead of the 21st.
It was a great visit! The only unfortunate thing about it was that it fell on the first week of classes for me, which meant that I wasn't able to 'be sick' for any of my classes. (Professors had made it quite clear that any students who didn't show for the first classes would be dropped and promptly replaced with a student on the waiting list.) This inconvenience of having 8 classes to go to throughout the week dramatically reduced what we were able to do, however it didn't stop us from seeing a lot and having a complete blast! Here are some of the pictures from the visit.
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| Needless to say, toting a few pieces of baggage along, the trip from the airport to Karlstadt and then, at the end of the stay, from Karlstadt back to the airport were a couple of the longest trips of our lives... |
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| Spaghetti Eis was one of the highlights of the trip. This is vanilla Eis (ice cream) with a berry sauce and some ground white chocolate on top |
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| A snack for the train ride. What Allison is holding is a popular drink in Germany. It consists of cola mixed with orange soda. The brand name one is called Mezzo Mix and is a fusion of Coke and Orange Fanta. |
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| Susanne and Emile were kind enough to make Allison and I an ultra traditional Bavarian breakfast: Weißwurst (white sausage), Brezels (Prezels), and a beer. |
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| Date night! We found this really awesome restaurant and pub to eat dinner at one of the evenings. Throughout the whole restaurant there were tons of little crevices and corners with tables and such to sit at. In the cellar was the pub, which was set up in the same fashion |
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| Mmmmm....Schnitzel on the left and a sweinsteak cooked in a white wine sauce on the right. One of the most delicious meals I have ever had the pleasure of partaking in! |
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| Allison and I in front of the Würzburg Residenz, a World Heritage Site, as declared by UNESCO. It is home to the largest ceiling fresco in the world and hosted the Würzburg Price-Bishops, very powerful rulers who had both political as well as religious power/leadership of Bavaria |
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| The Herbst Messe (Autumn Fest) in Würzburg. Home to some delicious crêpes, cooked nuts, and wursts, among other foods. |
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| Glühwein: A delicious drink that is all a man needs in the winter. It is a spiced wine that is served piping hot and it absolutely perfect for the cold days of the German autumn and winter. |
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| One last picture before Allison headed back to the Land of Enchantment |
Well, it is now 22:24 here and 14:24 in Albuquerque and it is time to turn in for the night! I have a class tomorrow morning at 10:00...yes, on a Saturday. My professor will not be here for the Spanish class on Monday so she scheduled a class Saturday morning in order that we wouldn't have to miss out on any valuable Spanish instruction. It shouldn't be all that bad though, we are going to have a small Frühstück (breakfast) during the class and are each supposed to bring a little something to share. I think that I will bring some good old American Jif peanut butter, something that Germans don't really have, and see if I can wake up a few taste buds with a whirlwind of adventure.
